People who are barely in top income bracket brace for tax hit
“The core of it, like we’re the ultrarich—that just sticks in my craw,” said Geoff Thompson, of New York’s Westchester County, who runs a marketing firm with his wife, earning together between $300,000 and $350,000 a year. “I don’t know what it’s like in that rarefied atmosphere where people are making multiple millions.”
Mr. Thompson’s household is one of nearly five million that earn between $200,000 and $500,000 annually. They make up the largest subset of the top 2% of earners. Fewer than 1.2 million households earn more than $500,000…
If Congress fails to reach a deal and tax increases automatically kick in, high-earning families with income up to $500,000 will see their tax bill jump by about $14,650 on average, according to the Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution…
Mr. Thompson, 65 years old, said a rising tax tab means he would cut back on spending so he and his wife can continue saving for retirement.
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If “the cliff” is all they’re looking at, then they aren’t bracing nearly enough. Too bad John Roberts doesn’t even have as much sense as the French courts…
Gingotts on December 29, 2012 at 8:32 PM
But but but they need to pay their “fair share”.
If I never hear that word again in my lifetime – I would be okay with that.
gophergirl on December 29, 2012 at 8:35 PM
Statistically speaking, these folks more than likely voted for Obama. What did they THINK was going to happen to them?
JFKY on December 29, 2012 at 8:36 PM
And 60 million Americans will contribute not one thin dime in income taxes who earn income. Not only that, but tens of millions will be handed cash as refunds they never paid to begin with.
astonerii on December 29, 2012 at 8:40 PM
I am laughing at the newly (self-) discovered “rich.” “HEY, our taxes are going to go up by THAT much?!”
I read or somewhere, where some bright spark finally had his accountant runt he numbers..$10,000 per year more in taxes. His comment was, “I thought it would just be a couple of thousand.”
So, NOW, in December, AFTER the election Mr. (Likely) Obama Voter gets the info that he’s really going to be paying thru the nose! And I’m supposed to fell sorry for him?
I mean, sure, Romney could have done better, done what Bush 43 did, point out SPECIFIC people, in the audience, and what his tax proposals meant for them, but really what can you do with people who are just figuring out that higher taxes mean higher taxes for them, too?!
JFKY on December 29, 2012 at 8:44 PM
I tried to check to see if he donated to Obama but the site is down. However, my google search turns up all these hits for every Chicago suburban newspaper with lists of those who donated to Romney. How’s that for intimidation…
Blake on December 29, 2012 at 8:46 PM
Agree. This, sadly is the liberal version of “fair share”:
.
It seems like in EVERYTHING liberals can always, only see one side of the equation.
hopeful on December 29, 2012 at 8:47 PM
My wife and I together grossed just over $250k in 2011. She has been on LOA since giving birth to our on last Feb. We’ve decided that she won’t be going back to work at least until Obama is gone. Our gross this year will be under the magic $200k.
When I get hit with the tax hammer it’s gonna hurt me but I’ll adjust by involuntarily hurting others who won’t get any of my diminished disposable income, others like restaurants, clothing stores, et al. I’ll be increasing my investments in commodities like property and silver.
FU Obama!
Charlemagne on December 29, 2012 at 8:57 PM
Aside from the deleterious effect on the economy of overtaxing the bracket that sells everything and hires everyone, the moral hazard of having half the country pay no income tax, and the rapacious cynicism of calling people who make 250k in Westchester County “rich”…
Aside from all of that, the stupidest thing about the Obama tax is the assumption that people who make 250k make 250k because they make 250k, because they were born with a mark on their forehead or something. In reality, many of the people who file six figures get there on an income spike that will never be repeated (particularly in this economy). Someone who makes 250k in one year because of a great commission on sale or the sale of their small business or selling their house or tapping into their investments has about as much chance of ever having
Liberals are lacquered in the amber of the idea of economic stasis and caste systems. That’s why they reflexively fight for more unionization and defined-benefit pensions on the bottom of the income scale as self-evidently good, even though everyone with two functioning eyes knows there’s not a coin-flip chance that such entities will remain around to pay out in 40 years. And it’s why they categorize anyone who ever files an income of 250k as rich because, duh, 250k x 4 = 1 million.
HitNRun on December 29, 2012 at 9:03 PM
That’s supposed to end “chance of ever having a million dollars cash as my Powerball-playing grandma.”
HitNRun on December 29, 2012 at 9:05 PM
The other people hit hard by this will be the maids, valets, artists and workers at lawn services, painting services, manicure services, massage centers, spas, taxi services, restaurants, hotels, car dealerships, airlines, household furnishings manufacturing… the first thing to go are the nonessentials.
After the 2008 crash, several friends were actively looking for additional employers for their desperate maids and nannies. Restaurants and art galleries closed down.
Two income households in this bracket use a lot of goods and services that are nice-to-haves but not absolute necessities. The pain will be trickling down.
obladioblada on December 29, 2012 at 10:32 PM
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/jumping_out_of_their_kins_SpNwWIBDvSotYbcF7bQZ3O
Liberals don’t get it. Apoliticals don’t get it. People who earn more than $250k are looking at 10k in more taxes. They think those earners are going to work as hard and spend the same or more when they pay that much in higher taxes? Not a chance. Forget about the Laffer curve and the debate about “optimal taxation,” wealth creation is now officially a moral offense in this country.
The President’s agenda never included returning to full employment. He is busy making a more fair and just society. His biggest goal for 2012 is climate change. No mention of that until after the election. It’s a race to the middle. How could the invisible hand be as fair as the central planners, they ask? The worse it will get, the more wealth creators will get blamed. All for what–to reverse engineer a soviet oligarchy?
An Objectivist on December 29, 2012 at 11:30 PM
Er, goal for 2013 is climate change.
An Objectivist on December 29, 2012 at 11:39 PM
I make less than 40,000 a year. I’ll take a hit – I know I will and there’s not much left where I can cut.
Ellen on December 30, 2012 at 6:09 AM